We have been so preoccupied with the damage that AI might be doing when it comes to taking over jobs and stealing copyrighted data, we overlooked what its impact could be to the environment. As powerful as it is, it requires massive data centers to run them, which uses a lot of water to cool.
Water-Cooled AI Computers
A lot of people are using AI now, whether it's for productivity apps or AI generators. All of that requires massive processing power, which tends to overheat even the most advanced supercomputers. Companies use water-cooling technology to make sure that doesn't happen.
If you're wondering how much water it takes to do that, the answer is around 1.7 billion gallons of water per year. In 2021, Microsoft used up to 4,772,890 cubic meters of water, which only grew the following year to 6,399,415 cubic meters of water, according to Gizmodo.
By comparison, one person uses around 22,000 gallons of water per year. The problem is that companies that offer AI products and services don't have much of a choice. There's very little choice in cooling systems, and the supercomputers will shut down if they overheat.
The water usage comes as Microsoft invests in OpenAI. The AI company's data center in Des Moines, Iowa, specifically, has seen a rise in water usage. It doesn't help that the temperatures in the area are usually hot, which is influenced by climate change as well.
Unfortunately, excessive water usage is not only causing concern for the environment. Given that the water used by the data center is drawn from waterways that are also used to provide for communities, the West Des Moines Water Works has also grown wary.
The utility company released a document stating that the company and officials will only "consider future data center projects beyond Microsoft Data Center Project Ginger East and West" unless new projects find a way to significantly reduce their water usage, reports say.
The approach aims to conserve resources, which will "help preserve the water supply for current and future commercial and residential needs of West Des Moines." As alarming as it already is, Microsoft is not the only tech giant using vast amounts of water.
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Google's Water-Cooled Data Centers
The tech giant doesn't use as much as Microsoft does, but it's still a considerable amount of water. In its 2023 environmental report, Google used approximately 5.2 billion gallons of water to cool its data centers, 5.6 million if you count its other water cooling systems.
In the year before, the internet giant used 20% less. Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Shaolei Ren said that it aligns with Google's increase in compute capacity, mostly because of AI, as per Business Insider.
He added that he was skeptical about the sustainability of the practice in the long run. According to reports, the water that Google is using is clean enough to be used as drinking water. Google explained that it gets its supply of water from areas with low water stress.
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